1.Everyone shall possess the right to freely express and publicise his thoughts in words, images or by any other means, as well as the right to inform others, inform himself and be informed without hindrance or discrimination
2.Exercise of the said rights shall not be hindered or limited by any type or form of censorship
Constitution of the Portuguese Republic, Article 37.º

Gonçalo Amaral: “Madeleine is dead; where she is buried, I do not know”

Former Inspector Gonçalo Amaral, the first officer responsible for the investigation into the “Madeleine case”, insists that the McCann couple hid the girl’s body, during the presentation of his book “Maddie. The truth of the lie” in Madrid.

The Portuguese inspector, suspended when he was leading the investigation into the disappearance in the Algrave of the British girl Madeleine McCann, Gonçalo Amaral, has today stated in Madrid that the McCann couple simulated the girl’s abduction and hid her body.

During a press conference Turing which he presented his book “Maddie. The truth of the lie”, Amaral explained that the conclusion of the investigation he led during the five months after the girl’s disappearance, on 3rd May 2007, is that Madeleine died due to a “tragic accident” this same day.

“The girl is dead; where she is buried, I do not know” said the former chief inspector, who has emphasised the witness account of an Irish family who, on the night of the disappearance passed a man carrying a small girl, and who later, upon seeing his image on TV, he identified as Gerry McCann.

Amaral criticised the archiving of the Maddie case last July, when Kate and Gerry McCann were released from their condition of suspects, but has warned that the finding of “new elements of proof” could lead to the investigation being re-opened.

“There are many indications of her death”, said Amaral.

“There are many indications of her death”, confirms Amaral, who emphasised that the police dogs detected cadaver odour and human blood “of a genetic profile that coincides with Madeleine’s” behind a sofa in the apartment.

Further more, Amaral has emphasised that the McCann couple recognised that they had given their children a drug, that they said was paracetamol, but which was identified as a sedative during the investigation.

On the night of the her daughter’s disappearance, Kate McCann “placed her hand over the noses of her other children, who were still asleep, to check whether they were breathing”, he stated, considering that “it is not normal for a mother to act in this way after having lost a daughter”.

Amaral has described the McCanns as “parents who have felt pain and anguish” and his opinion is that “it is very difficult” that the couple – who have always sustained the hypothesis of abduction – could “backtrack”, and adds: “Millions have been spent in looking for a living girl, how are you going to say that she is dead?”

“A law-suit against me could be interesting”.

The ex-inspector of the PJ has stated that he does not fear a lawsuit against him by the McCanns and, indeed, he considers that “a law-suit would be an interesting way of re-opening the investigation”.

In addition, Amaral has noticed political and diplomatic pressures which, in his opinion, motivated his suspension from the investigation in October 2007, and has stated that the “British government intervened in some form”.

The former policeman has said that with his book, recognised as “polemic” he hopes to re-establish his “good name” and contribute to the discovery of the truth of the facts.

Yes, but they were looking for a girl alive, not a girl dead. In addition, I am not saying that the body remained on the beach all the time. Clearly, the first thing was to remove it from the apartment. Later they could find other solutions to hide it. Witnesses of the National Republican Guard said they had seen the McCanns directed onto the beach twice in the course of that morning. Surely they quickly found a better place.

Would love to know the name of the sleeping drug if not calpol/paracetemol..The dirty pair of bastards if Amaral is correct and I dont doubt for a minute he isnt it seems that Madeleine died for however bottles of wine the fuckers wanted to get down their necks..its not as if they had to rush out to get nappies or plasters...just a belly full of booze.Loved to hear Amaral is confident in the threat of suing him for libel....god if only, but bet your life they wont sue him, they know bettter and will stick to threatening the British shambolic media, hope they are taking note the McCanns arent suing Amaral...Might buck them up in to printing the stuff we are so heavily censored of.

The Portuguese Police and more particularly Goncalo Amaral spent weeks of searching and questioning looking for Madeleine. The Police here in Portugal are not idiots, they are far more thorough than most countries and their results at cutting crime renown. I am appalled that the McCanns blame the Police for "bungling" the case, after all they are the ones firstly at fault for leaving the children, if not for far more than that.As Shakespeare would say, methinks the lady protests too much!